Steamboats Are A-comin` - Or At Least Five That Survive

October 09, 1988|By Alan Patureau, Cox News Service.

The vessel cost a whopping $30 million in contrast to the DQ`s $875,000 in 1926. It is 382 feet long and weighs 3,300 tons, yet, incredibly, it draws only eight feet of water. It boasts an unheard-of seven decks, and the amenities are remindful of an ocean liner-elevators, hot tub, movie theater, sauna, gym, library and beauty salon. You might say the MQ is for hedonists, the DQ for history lovers.

The Natchez has also tasted glamor, despite being limited to day trips and moonlight jazz dinners out of New Orleans. It has hosted visiting stars of every stripe, including Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and, during the recent national convention, Republican presidential nominee George Bush.

``We`re a symbol of New Orleans and an exact replica of the eighth Natchez, which was a familiar cotton-and-passenger-carrying packet on the river from 1891 to 1918,`` says Capt. Clarke Hawley, 53, the colorful, calliope-playing skipper of the boat since it was launched 13 years ago. Like many steamboats, the Natchez`s engines have a history of their own-they were salvaged from the 1927 towboat Clairton.

The graceful Julia Belle Swain is the smallest of the five, only 157 feet long. It offers two-day trips on the Mississippi, although passengers spend the night at hotels in Le Claire, Ia., or Galena, Ill. Singer-composer John Hartford is a licensed river pilot and frequently takes the wheel.

Named for the original owner`s daughter, the 17-year-old boat has classic lines, Texas and Hurricane decks, a steam calliope that can be heard for 10 miles down river, towering stacks, a jaunty pilothouse and big red paddle wheel. A youngster carries on the tradition.